Official 2012-13 Pirates Off-Season Thread

[beerman]

The KDKA news just implied that the Pirates will pursue Josh Hamilton, does anyone have any idea whose feeding that nonsense?

Someone who's on the same stuff Hamilton was?

[FreeCandy44]

The KDKA news just implied that the Pirates will pursue Josh Hamilton, does anyone have any idea whose feeding that nonsense?

Someone who's on the same stuff Hamilton was?

ZING!

[thehockeyguru]

Maybe we can get the Yanks to pay a bunch of A-Rod's salary like they did with Burnett.

[columbia]

A-Rod could return to SS.
That would make a few people happy.

[thehockeyguru]

A-Rod could return to SS.
That would make a few people happy.

In all seriousness, I dont see why anyone would remotely consider trading for him unless the Yankees take on 80%+ of his salary. Isn't he making 27.5M per through 2017?

[Troy Loney]

A-Rod could return to SS.
That would make a few people happy.

In all seriousness, I dont see why anyone would remotely consider trading for him unless the Yankees take on 80%+ of his salary. Isn't he making 27.5M per through 2017?

Buster Olney said that if AROD were on the open market he'd be looking at a one year deal in the neighborhood of $5M. He's owed $114 over the next five years (so they probably front loaded a bit of that 27.5/year). The issue is definitely just the length, If I were an executive i'd look at it like, i'll pay 14 cause I think he'd be worth $7M/year over the next two years, but after that I would want hardly any financial obligation. So i'd demand the yankees pay $95-100M of his remaining salary.

[offsides]

A-Rod could return to SS.
That would make a few people happy.

In all seriousness, I dont see why anyone would remotely consider trading for him unless the Yankees take on 80%+ of his salary. Isn't he making 27.5M per through 2017?

Buster Olney said that if AROD were on the open market he'd be looking at a one year deal in the neighborhood of $5M. He's owed $114 over the next five years (so they probably front loaded a bit of that 27.5/year). The issue is definitely just the length, If I were an executive i'd look at it like, i'll pay 14 cause I think he'd be worth $7M/year over the next two years, but after that I would want hardly any financial obligation. So i'd demand the yankees pay $95-100M of his remaining salary.

Still wouldn't want him, talk about a cancer...............yuck.

[Rylan]

I wouldn't mind A-Rod on the Buccos. But he won't leave the AL.

[DudeMan2766]

So I stay off twitter for an hour or so, just quickly check back before I go to bed, and this dejan column is blowing it up. Now im up reading all the reactions.

http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/2819385-74/pirates-polanco-baseball-players-team-hell-month-prospects-week-ankle#axzz29xfwc3PE

[LeopardLetang]

that sounds pretty freaking ridiculous. i'll wait to see how bucsdugout/pirates prospects report on it. dejan has been pretty unreliable but we'll see.

[FreeCandy44]

Its almost like they enjoy being laughed at and ridiculed.

[DudeMan2766]

Im sure theres truth somewhere in the middle, but i find it hard to believe thats just all made up. Even Tony Sanchez is getting into the mix and its been Dejan adn some of the pittsburgh media vs. pirateprospects and kristy robinson/tony sanchez. Its been nuts.

[LeopardLetang]

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2012/10/24/35 ... s-training

read this after reading dejan and his followers. it's trying to downplay it some which is probably the responsible thing to do, but i'm finding this a little hard to stomach since i'd hate to have this situation to deal with if i was a prospect. i'd hate it, but i'm not against the idea that it would be good for me. but still i'd try to avoid it if i had my choice as a prospect.

[Idoit40fans]

I havne't read anything thats been going on, but at this point I'm not sure how anyone can actually take anything Dejan says/writes and give it any credence. The guy has the credibility of the average blogger that gets 2-3 hits per week.

[canaan]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

[Idoit40fans]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

I think its stupid and irrelevant either way.

[columbia]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

This seems to fall into the area of judgement and assessments of injuries. But who knows.
Then again, there are many people who claim to have enough knowledge of the Penguins training staff. to the point where they should all be fired.

Meh. It's easy to be a critic.

[PghSkins]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

[Kraftster]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

It seems to me that part of is the fact that it's the Pirates doing it. If it were less of a laughing stock of a franchise, I wonder if the reaction would be the same. That said, I think its a little different than the Pens thing since that was the Pens roster (a group that you'd expect to play together for the season) and it was focused specifically on team building as opposed to the whole "initiation" side of this Pirates stuff.

[Idoit40fans]

maybe im oversimplifying this but when the penguins did something similar, the military training was "a great bonding experience" and "the perfect tool to get these guys working hard" etc on the road towards the cup. Why is it met with scorn and ridicule when the buccos do it?

It seems to me that part of is the fact that it's the Pirates doing it. If it were less of a laughing stock of a franchise, I wonder if the reaction would be the same. That said, I think its a little different than the Pens thing since that was the Pens roster (a group that you'd expect to play together for the season) and it was focused specifically on team building as opposed to the whole "initiation" side of this Pirates stuff.

That was the problem I had with it, its basically hazing. Like I said though, I thought it was stupid when the Pens did it too.

[KennyTheKangaroo]

for kenny the kangaroo, it comes down to the difference in mentality between baseball players and hockey players. being tough or brave does help in baseball, but it is not nearly as important as focus and a balanced mental outlook. gary roberts used his will and toughness to score goals. will and toughness cant get a fastball past miguel cabrera and will and toughness cant help you catch up to a verlander fastball.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

The difference between the Pirates and the Pens (if you believe Dejan's article) seems to be that the Pirates continued to do military style training after the original training session, and actually had a hell week of activity. The Pirates went way beyond what the Penguins did. It's not even close really.

[offsides]

I really don't see anything wrong with it. Maybe my experience isn't relative to these kids, but maybe it is. Military basic training was very important to me. I was drafted into the military after graduating from college in 1972. I was an imature lost kid with no idea of what I wanted out of life. Basic training matured me in a hurry and made me focus and work for what I wanted out of life. Wouldn't give the experience up for anything.

But like I said, that is just me and maybe doesn't apply to these kids. But why not try something different because what they have been doing for the last 20 years ain't working.

[HockeyDaddy]

Can someone explain "Hoka Hey" to me? Where did it come from and how does it relate to the Pirates?

[JS©]

We had 79 wins this year! Don't sell these guys short!

yeah, we don't want to make it tougher for the Pirates than it already is